GRANITE CITY - Senior quarterback Jesus Atilano is entering the 2026 football season at Granite City High School with high hopes and aspirations into starting to turn around the fortunes of the Warriors' football program.
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Although Granite went 0-9 for the third consecutive season, Atilano had a particularly good season, going 63-of-128 passing for 701 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran for a touchdown. As a defensive back, he also had seven tackles, three of them solo, to help the Warriors' defense out.
But his calling is a quarterback, and in an interview conducted on Aug. 8, 2026, after a preseason practice session, Atilano is confident that the Warriors are about to turn the corner.
"I'm really excited," Atilano said. "Obviously, our goal is not to lose every game. We're just coming out here, trusting the schemes. I'm beyond excited, and I'm just ready for my last season."
Atilano is a Stillwater Senior Living Male Athlete Of The Month for the Warriors.
His goals and aspirations for the upcoming campaign are quite simple, indeed, as far as success on the field.
"I definitely want to have a winning season," Atilano said, "make it to the playoffs. I want to be an all-conference caliber player, and just take my team somewhere we haven't been in a really long time."
The Warriors are rejoining the Southwestern Conference this season, along with Collinsville for football, and the league has expanded to welcome both Triad and Mascoutah from the late Mississippi Valley Conference. The IHSA football playoffs have also been expanded to 40 teams in each of the eight classes, which creates new opportunities for the Warriors and the other schools in both the conference and state.
"I think it's great," Atilano said. "I think if we don't duck our tails, I think it's great competition. I love those guys, always compete with them always have our personal trainers and quarterback coaches. I love everybody out there. It's nothing but love, but at the end of the day, it's football. So we've got to compete. I mean, we'll see. We'll just have to wait."
Atilano is very hopeful of enjoying a very successful season for Granite, the first of its kind in many years for the Warriors.
"We want to have overall success," Atilano said. "And, really, I just want to trust my coaches, and I just hope we all buy in more than what we've been doing right now. But, I just want to keep the train going, keep the success going. In the summer, we had some really successful scrimmages; I want to keep that going throughout the season. We just want to trust our coaches and change the program, really."
